Canton shuts down Granby in fourth quarter to remain in first place in NCCC

Canton’s Ryan Enns (20) is pressured in Wednesday night’s victory over Granby. (Photo courtesy Bill Brewster)

GRANBY, January 18 – The Canton High boys basketball team allowed just two field goals in the final 13 minutes of the game to remain in first place in the North Central Connecticut Conference with a 48-37 win over Granby on Wednesday night.

Ethan Burke scored a team-high 13 points while Tim Keating and Jack Mansur each had 11 points for Canton, now 8-1 overall and 7-0 in the NCCC. The Warriors maintained a one-game lead over Sport Medicine Science Academy (8-2, 6-1 NCCC) in the league championship race.

Canton led by as many as eight points early in the fourth quarter but the Bears (3-5, 2-4 NCCC) cut the lead to three points on a three-point shot from Tyler Disabella with 4:35 remaining, 40-37. But that would be the final points that the Bears scored on this evening.

The Warriors extended the lead to six on a three-point shot from Mansur with 3:02 remaining and pushed the lead to eight on a jumper from Luke Brown with 1:53 left in the game.

Canton’s Ethan Burke (23) moves toward the basket in Wednesday night’s win over Granby. (Photo courtesy Bill Brewster)

It was a close game for most of the first three quarters. The contest was tied six times but the Warriors used a 7-0 in the final 1:41 of the third period to grab a seven-point lead, 37-30. Mansur drained a three-point shot with 1:41 left in the quarter and that was followed by a basket from Ethan Burke with 53 seconds left. Enns completed the run with a basket at the third quarter buzzer.

Disabella led Granby with 13 points – the only player in double figure for the Bears. He scored all of Granby’s seven points in the fourth quarter.

The victory was Canton’s first win over Granby in the regular season since 2009. The only Canton wins over the Bears in the last eight years have come in the post-season in the NCCC Tournament in 2010 and 2016.

Canton returns to the floor on Friday night when they host Bolton (2-6, 1-5 NCCC) at 7 p.m. The Warriors will play at Gilbert (0-8) on Monday night in Winsted.

Bill Brewster contributed to this story.

Canton’s Tim Keating (33) had 11 points in Wednesday night’s win over the Bears. (Photo courtesy Bill Brewster)

Canton 48, Granby 37
At Granby
Canton (48) Luke Brown 2-2-6, Jack Mansur 3-2-11, Ryan Enns 3-1-7, Ethan Burke 4-5-13, Tim Keating 5-0-11, Nick Amrose 0-0-0, Matt Rose 0-0-0, Grant Lange 0-0-0. Totals 17-10-48
Granby (37) Blake Wickham 1-0-3, Tyler Disabella 4-4-13, Jon Bystrowski 1-0-3, Kaleb Lillestolen 2 0 4, James Shelansky 3 0 6, Peyton Large 2 1 5, Logan Disabella 1 0 3, Hauser 0-0-0. Totals 14 5 37
Canton (8-1)                 13  11  13  11 – 48
Granby (3-5)                 11  11    8    7 — 37
Three-point goals: Mansur (C) 3, Keating (C), Wickham (G), T. Disabella (G), Bystrowski (G), L. Disabella (G)

Latest NCCC standings: Canton 7-0, SMSA 6-1, Hartford Classical 5-1, Windsor Locks 5-2, Somers 3-2, Suffield 4-3